Multi-User Autostereoscopic 2D/3D Switchable Flat-Panel Display

An autostereoscopic display system which can allow multiple users to see 3D perception of the images without loss of resolution is introduced in this paper. It is a kind of time-sequential 3D systems incorporating eye tracking and directional optical design to realize free viewing. The whole system consists of five main parts: multi-user eye tracker, direct-view LCD, steerable LED array, MCU controller, and a suit of directional optics. It employs the theory of temporal multiplexing by the use of a LCD available to run at 120 Hz and utilizes a multi-user eye tracker to get the viewers' eye positions so as to control the steerable backlight to produce multiple pairs of exit pupils to the viewers' eyes. This paper describes the detailed structure of the system, the operation principle and the results obtained are also described. This approach differs from many existing ones in that it is switchable between 2D and 3D mode both with full resolution and is much thinner compared to other bulky systems with a width less than 20 cm.